10 Observations: Blackhawks Allow Five Unanswered, Fall to Flames

By Charlie Roumeliotis • Published January 2, 2022

10 observations: Hawks allow five unanswered, fall to Flames originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

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The Blackhawks fell to the Calgary Flames 5-1 at the United Center on Sunday.

Here are 10 observations from the loss:

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1. The Flames dominated in the second period, where they led in shot attempts (40-14), shots on goal (26-9), scoring chances (21-6) and high-danger chances (6-2), according to Natural Stat Trick. It helped that they had three consecutive power plays.

2. Marc-Andre Fleury was activated from COVID-19 protocol but served as the backup. Arvid Soderblom made his first career NHL start and was easily Chicago's best player. He made 37 saves on 41 shots for a save percentage of .902. Nineteen of those shots came from the slot.

3. The Blackhawks gave up a shorthanded goal at the 17:46 mark of the second period and it was a back-breaker. Twenty-three seconds prior, Soderblom stopped Mikael Backlund on a breakaway and it should've given Chicago life. Instead, Trevor Lewis found himself alone in front and gave Calgary a 3-1 lead.

4. The Flames generated 13 scoring chances off the rush, according to Sportlogiq. They rank No. 7 in the league in rush chances per game at 6.9. Johnny Gaudreau and Andrew Mangiapane each had four.

5. The Blackhawks were the better team in the first period. They held the Flames to only six shots on goal and had 2:42 of offensive possession zone time compared to Calgary's 1:01.

6. Alex DeBrincat scored his 18th goal of the season after burying a pass from Patrick Kane, who has recorded a primary assist on 11 of those 18 DeBrincat goals. Shoutout to Henrik Borgstrom for winning the puck back and making the play possible.

7. The Blackhawks moved Erik Gustafsson back to the top power-play unit and Seth Jones to the second unit. They had seven shot attempts, four shots on goal, five scoring chances and two high-danger chances in 4:48 of 5-on-4 time but couldn't cash in.

8. The Flames rank 18th in hits per 60 minutes this season at 21.4. They recorded 34 hits against Chicago, led by Tyler Pitlick's nine.

9. Jonathan Toews had a rare off-night at the dot. He lost 10 of 18 faceoffs for a win percentage of 44.4. Only Dylan Strome (three wins, one loss) finished with a positive win percentage.

10. Before the game, Collin Delia was reassigned to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs and MacKenzie Entwistle was moved to the taxi squad. Ryan Carpenter and Riley Stillman were healthy scratches on Sunday. Caleb Jones and Josiah Slavin drew back into the lineup.

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